idj4thinking

Belonging in a Cosmic Reality

How important is spirituality in your life? I don’t believe in a God, but I believe in happenstance. I believe that life has a way of bringing about a sort of order, for better or worse. Sometimes resistance is futile, other times, pulling away from nature is for the better. I like Buddhism and TaoismContinue reading “Belonging in a Cosmic Reality”

Enabling my toxic traits

How do you practice self-care? I’m the sort of person who likes to jump from lily pad to lily pad. I love to see where things go, and to explore a bunch of new things. One challenge with this is I push myself to and beyond my limits. This is both a major pro, andContinue reading “Enabling my toxic traits”

Exercises in Futility!

You can’t be anyone but yourself. You can put on masks, you can lie to yourself and everyone around you, but the piper comes. The feeling of not being in your own skin is revolting. It’s so incredibly frustrating not being able to act how you feel, and taking the time to understand what youContinue reading “Exercises in Futility!”

Empty Convo

Sometimes people talk to fill the silence. Sometimes silence is harder to feel comfortable in than idle conversation. I think silence is a challenge, a peak, something to climb, to take effort in.

Keeping Energy High

Something I’ve always strived for is limitless energy. I’m certainly close to that ideal, as most days of mine are spent constantly trying new things, walking around, and INTENSIFYING whatever is in front of me. Some days that ideal is farther from being attained. On very hot days, a laziness overtakes me and discourages meContinue reading “Keeping Energy High”

Doing a 10 minute set!

I did my first ten minute set at a brewery. It was fun! I am not used to talking for 10 straight minutes and I liked it! It was fun kind of being in an area that’s not primarily standup comedians. Here’s what’s different! First, lazier jokes are better. This is because people are moreContinue reading “Doing a 10 minute set!”

The Valley of Despair

There’s an appealing idea behind letting go. When you release your wants, tension disappears, and the things you want gravitate toward you. I don’t quite think it works in that way, in part because just giving up will not necessarily lead you to achieving your goals. Interestingly, while those who are the most successful seemContinue reading “The Valley of Despair”

My inexhaustibility

What’s your favorite thing about yourself? Having all the brilliance in the world doesn’t help if you don’t have the stubbornness to imprint your vision onto the world around you. Youth is a lot of things- recklessness, passion, naïveté, but also opportunity, dreams, and hope. The part of youth, particularly mine, that I find especiallyContinue reading “My inexhaustibility”

Not all motivation is healthy

A lot of our ugliest parts of our personality exist when we think about what’s wounded us. We try and mask that, or prevent the way we’ve felt so we never experience it again. Sometimes it hurts when we build our empires. They’re founded on what it was when we were vulnerable and weak. And,Continue reading “Not all motivation is healthy”

Love me some social reps

I hear a lot of people talk about how back in the day, they were absolutely excellent at socializing, but over time they atrophied. This tracks. But, by the same metaphor that one can atrophy one’s social skills, it’s also possible to progressively overload, or to improve one’s skills. Generally, when one feels a socialContinue reading “Love me some social reps”